ADAM SZEWCZYK (ORCID: 0000-0001-5519-260X) – Head of the Laboratory. A graduate of the Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Warsaw – 1984. PhD under Maciej Nalecz tutorship, 1989. Research stays: Bern University, Switzerland, Angelo Azzi Laboratory, Postdoctoral Fellow,1989, University of NIce, Sophia Antipolis, France Michel Lazdunski Laboratory, Postsoctoral Fellow, 1990. Johns Hopkins University, MD USA, Baltimore, Eduardo Marban Laboratory, Visiting Scientist, 1997.
Selected 3 Publications:
– Szabo I, Szewczyk A. Mitochondrial Ion Channels. Annu Rev Biophys. 2023 May 9;52:229-254. doi: 10.1146/annurev-biophys-092622-094853
– Szewczyk A, Wojtczak L. Mitochondria as a pharmacological target. Pharmacol Rev. 2002 Mar;54(1):101-27. doi: 10.1124/pr.54.1.101
– Szewczyk A, Marbán E. Mitochondria: a new target for K channel openers? Trends Pharmacol Sci. 1999 Apr;20(4):157-61. doi: 10.1016/s0165-6147(99)01301-2
PIOTR KOPROWSKI (ORCID 0000-0002-7571-2446) – PI. e-mail: p.koprowski@nencki.edu.pl. A graduate of the Faculty of Biology at the University of Warsaw – 1996. Ph.D. at the Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics PAS, the Laboratory of Mutagenesis and DNA Repair under tutorship of Prof. Zygmunt Cieśla – 2003. Postdoctoral training at the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, USA, Ehud Isacoff Laboratory – 2004-2007.
Selected 3 Publications:
– Walewska A, Szewczyk A, Krajewska M, Koprowski P. Targeting Mitochondrial Large-Conductance Calcium-Activated Potassium Channel by Hydrogen Sulfide via Heme-Binding Site. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2022 May;381(2):137-150. doi: 10.1124/jpet.121.001017
– Krajewska M, Koprowski P. Solubilization, purification, and functional reconstitution of human ROMK potassium channel in copolymer styrene-maleic acid (SMA) nanodiscs. Biochim Biophys Acta Biomembr. 2021 Apr 1;1863(4):183555. doi: 10.1016/j.bbamem.2021.183555
– Koprowski P, Grajkowski W, Isacoff EY, Kubalski A. Genetic screen for potassium leaky small mechanosensitive channels (MscS) in Escherichia coli: recognition of cytoplasmic β domain as a new gating element. J Biol Chem. 2011 Jan 7;286(1):877-88. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M110.176131
BOGUSZ KULAWIAK (ORCID 0000-0002-4420-9557) – PI. e-mail: b.kulawiak@nencki.edu.pl. A graduate of the Faculty of Biology at the University of Warmia and Mazury, Olsztyn, Poland. PhD under Adam Szewczyk tutorship at the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology. During PhD studies three interships in Laboratory of Wolfram Kunz, Bonn University, Germany. Postdoctoral training at the Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Freiburg, Germany, Nikolaus Pfanner Laboratory, direct supervisor Nils Wiedemann – 2010-2014. Member of MAESTRO project subgroup.
Selected 3 Publications:
– Schulte U, den Brave F, Haupt A, Gupta A, Song J, Müller CS, Engelke J, Mishra S, Mårtensson C, Ellenrieder L, Priesnitz C, Straub SP, Doan KN, Kulawiak B, Bildl W, Rampelt H, Wiedemann N, Pfanner N, Fakler B, Becker T. (2023) Mitochondrial complexome reveals quality-control pathways of protein import. Nature. 614(7946):153-159. doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-056
– Kulawiak B, Żochowska M, Bednarczyk P, Galuba A, Stroud DA, Szewczyk A. (2023) Loss of the large conductance calcium-activated potassium channel causes an increase in mitochondrial reactive oxygen species in glioblastoma cells. Pflugers Arch. 475(9):1045-1060. doi: 10.1007/s00424-023-02833-9
– Kulawiak B, Kudin AP, Szewczyk A, Kunz WS. (2008) BK channel openers inhibit ROS production of isolated rat brain mitochondria. Exp Neurol. 212(2):543-7. doi: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2008.05.004
ANTONI WRZOSEK (ORCID 0000-0001-6376-8816) – PI. e-mail: a.wrzosek@nencki.edu.pl. A graduate of the Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Warsaw – 1979. PhD under Prof. Lech Wojtczak tutorship, 1990. Postdoctoral training at the CIBA-GEIGY Ltd.: Basel, Basel-Stadt, CH (1991 -1992) and Department of Pharmacology, United Medical and Dental Schools, St Thomas’s Hospital (1993 – 1996). Member of MAESTRO project subgroup.
Selected 3 Publications:
– Wrzosek A, Gałecka S, Żochowska M, Olszewska A, Kulawiak B. Alternative Targets for Modulators of Mitochondrial Potassium Channels.( 2022) Molecules. 27(1):299. DOI: 10.3390/molecules27010299, PMID: 35011530
– Wrzosek A. The potassium channel opener NS1619 modulates calcium homeostasis in muscle cells by inhibiting SERCA.(2014), Cell Calcium, 56(1):14-24. DOI: 10.1016/j.ceca.2014.03.005, PMID: 24813114
– Kentish, J. C., Wrzosek, A. Changes in force and cytosolic Ca2+ concentration after length changes in isolated rat ventricular trabeculae (1998) Journal of Physiology-London, 506, 431-444, DOI 10.1111/j.1469-7793.1998.431bw.x
BARBARA KALENIK (ORCID 0000-0002-9315-1910) – POSTDOC. A graduate of the Faculty of Biology at the University of Warsaw – 2011. PhD under tutorship of Agnieszka Sirko, 2021. Research stays: Erasmus intern at School of Pharmacy (University of London, now University College London), 2010. Member of MAESTRO project subgroup.
Selected 3 Publications:
– Głuchowska A, Kalenik B, Kulawiak B, Wrzosek A, Szewczyk A, Bednarczyk P, Mosieniak G. Lack of activity of the mitochondrial large-conductance calcium-regulated potassium channels in senescent vascular smooth muscle cells. Mech Ageing Dev. 2023 Oct;215:111871. doi: 10.1016/j.mad.2023.111871
– Kalenik BM, Góra-Sochacka A, Stachyra A, Olszewska-Tomczyk M, Fogtman A, Sawicka R, Śmietanka K, Sirko A. Response to a DNA vaccine against the H5N1 virus depending on the chicken line and number of doses. Virol J. 2020 May 7;17(1):66. doi: 10.1186/s12985-020-01335-9
– Broniatowska B, Allmendinger A, Kaiser M, Montamat-Sicotte D, Hingley-Wilson S, Lalvani A, Guiry M, Blunden G, Tasdemir D. Antiprotozoal, antitubercular and cytotoxic potential of cyanobacterial (blue-green algal) extracts from Ireland. Nat Prod Commun. 2011 May;6(5):689-94. doi:10.1177/1934578X1100600523
MONIKA ŻOCHOWSKA – POSTDOC (ORCID 0000-0002-3824-4962) A graduate of the Faculty of Biology at Warsaw University of Life Sciences, 2004. PhD at the Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics PAS, the Laboratory of under tutorship of the Department of Protein Biosynthesis under tutorship of PhD, DSc Jadwiga Chroboczek and PhD, DSc Ewa Szołajska, 2012, Fellowship Scientific Exchange Programme Sciex-NMS-CH, Department of Clinical Pharmacology University of Berne, Switzerland, 2011
Selected 3 Publications:
Loss of the large conductance calcium-activated potassium channel causes an increase in mitochondrial reactive oxygen species in glioblastoma cells. Kulawiak B, Żochowska M, Bednarczyk P, Galuba A, Stroud DA, Szewczyk A.Pflugers Arch. 2023 Sep;475(9):1045-1060. doi: 10.1007/s00424-023-02833-9.
Adenovirus dodecahedron, as a drug delivery vector. Zochowska M, Paca A, Schoehn G, Andrieu JP, Chroboczek J, Dublet B, Szolajska E.PLoS One. 2009;4(5):e5569. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0005569.
Virus-like particle-mediated intracellular delivery of mRNA cap analog with in vivo activity against hepatocellular carcinoma. Zochowska M, Piguet AC, Jemielity J, Kowalska J, Szolajska E, Dufour JF, Chroboczek J.Nanomedicine. 2015 Jan;11(1):67-76. doi: 10.1016/j.nano.2014.07.009.
MILENA SZAFRANIEC – POSTDOC (ORCID 0000-0002-3927-8339) A graduate of the Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection at the University of Silesia, Katowice. PhD at the Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental therapy under Łukasz Łaczmański tutorship – 2022. Postdoctoral training at the Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Warsaw. Member of OPUS project subgroup.
Selected 3 Publications:
Szafraniec MJ, Toporkiewicz M, Gamian A. Zinc-substituted pheophorbide a is a safe and efficient antivascular photodynamic agent. Pharmaceuticals 2022 Feb 16;15(2):235. doi: 10.3390/ph15020235.
Szafraniec MJ. Interactions of chlorophyll-derived photosensitizers with human serum albumin are determined by the central metal ion. J. Biomol. Struct. Dyn. 2021 Feb 41(2):479-492. doi: 10.1080/07391102.2021.2007794
Szafraniec MJ, Fiedor L. One ring is not enough to rule them all. Albumin-dependent ABCG2-mediated transport of chlorophyll-derived photosensitizers. Eur. J. Pharm. Sci. 2021 Dec 1:167:106001. doi: 10.1016/j.ejps.2021.106001
SHUR GAŁECKA – PhD student (ORCID 0000-0001-8415-3255) – PhD student e-mail: s.galecka@nencki.edu.pl A graduate of the Faculty of Chemistry at the University of Warsaw extended by biology (MISMaP, UW) – 2017. MSc under prof. Renata Bilewicz (WCh, UW) and dr Bogusz Kulawiak (Nencki Institute) tutorship, 2017. Co-organizer of Aspects of Neuroscience conference (5th and 6th) as board member of Neurobiology Scientific Student Association, University of Warsaw. Member of PhD Student Council in Nencki Institute (2021) and Nencki Stipend Committee (2022), MitoEAGLE COST Action CA15203 (2018 – 2020), Polish Biochemical Society (2017 – 2023) and Biophysical Society (2022).
Selected publications:
– Gałecka, S.*, Kulawiak, B.*, Bednarczyk, P. et al. Single channel properties of mitochondrial large conductance potassium channel formed by BK-VEDEC splice variant. Sci Rep 11, 10925 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-90465-3
– Wrzosek, A., Gałecka, S., Żochowska, M., Olszewska, A., Kulawiak, B. (2022). Alternative Targets for Modulators of Mitochondrial Potassium Channels. Molecules, 27(1), 299.
– Bednarczyk P., Kampa R.P., Gałecka S., Sęk A., Walewska A., Koprowski P. (2021) Patch-Clamp Recording of the Activity of Ion Channels in the Inner Mitochondrial Membrane. In: Weissig V., Edeas M. (eds) Mitochondrial Medicine. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2276. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1266-8_18
JOANNA LEWANDOWSKA (ORCID 0000-0002-8746-1955) – PhD student. A graduate of the Faculty of Chemistry at the Warsaw University of Technology under tutorship of Ilona Grabowska-Jadach and Marcin Drozd – 2020. Co-organizer of The VIIth Intercollegiate Biotechnology Symposium “Symbioza” as Vice-President of Biotechnology Student Interest Group “Herbion”- 2018. Member of Polish Biochemical Society (since 2021). Member of MAESTRO project subgroup.
Selected publications:
– Bischof H, Maier S, Koprowski P, Kulawiak B, Burgstaller S, Jasińska J, Serafimov K, Zochowska M, Gross D, Schroth W, Matt L, Juarez Lopez DA, Zhang Y, Bonzheim I, Büttner FA, Fend F, Schwab M, Birkenfeld AL, Malli R, Lämmerhofer M, Bednarczyk P, Szewczyk A, Lukowski R. mitoBKCa is functionally expressed in murine and human breast cancer cells and potentially contributes to metabolic reprogramming. Elife. 2024 May 29;12:RP92511. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.92511.3
– Lewandowska J, Kalenik B, Wrzosek A, Szewczyk A. Redox Regulation of Mitochondrial Potassium Channels Activity. Antioxidants (Basel). 2024 Apr 3;13(4):434.https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox13040434
– Lewandowska J, Bednarczyk P, Kalenik B, Kulawiak B, Wrzosek A, Szewczyk, A. Straight from the heart–infrared light regulation of mitochondrial large conductance Ca2+-activated potassium channel activity in cardiomyocytes of Guinea Pig. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA)-Bioenergetics 2024 Aug, 1865, 149329. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbabio.2024.149329
KAROLINA PYTLAK (ORCID 0000-0002-4664-6734) – PhD student. A graduate of the Faculty of Animal Breeding, Bioengineering and Conservation at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW) under tutorship of Barbara Strojny- Cieślak. President of Nanobiotechnology Science Club „MKNN SGGW” (2019-2021). Member of Polish Biochemical Society (since 2021).
NATALIA ROSZKOWSKA – PhD student (ORCID 0009-0007-8050-5728). A graduate of the Faculty of Biology at the University of Warsaw. MSc under Prof. Magdalena Markowska (Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw) and Dr. Ksenia Meyza (Laboratory of Emotions Biology, Nencki Institute). Also attended an internship at the International Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology (IIMCB) at the Laboratory of Iron Homeostasis.
Scientific Collaborations:
PIOTR BEDNARCZYK – SGGW Warsaw
WOLFRAM KUNZ – Bonn University, Germany
RENATA BILEWICZ – Faculty of Chemistry, Warsaw University
STEFAN CHLOPICKI – JCET, Collegium Medium Jagiellonian University, Cracow
WIESLAWA JARMUSZKIEWICZ – Poznan University
PAWEL KRYSINSKI – Faculty of Chemistry, Warsaw University
DANIEL GRYKO – Institute of Organic Chemistry PAS, Warsaw
DAVID STROUD – Melbourne University, Australia
HARPREET SINGH – Ohio State University, USA
BRIAN O’ROURKE – Johns Hopkins University, USA
ROBERT LUKOWSKI – Tübingen University, Germany
Past Members of the Laboratory:
BARTŁOMIEJ AUGUSTYNEK, PhD
ALEKSANDRA BUTA, PhD
GRAZYNA DEBSKA, PhD
ANNA KICINSKA, PhD
MILENA KRAJEWSKA, PhD
MICHAL LASKOWSKI, PhD
DOMINIKA MALIŃSKA, PhD
ANNA OLSZEWSKA, PhD
MARTA PIWOŃSKA, PhD
DARIA ROTKO, PhD
ALEKSANDRA SĘK, PhD
JOLANTA SKALSKA, PhD
AGNIESZKA WALEWSKA, PhD
ANTONINA CHMURA, PhD (Post-doc)
JUSTYNA KALISZ, PhD (Post-doc)
IZABELA KOSZELA-PIOTROWSKA, PhD (Post-doc)
ANDRZEJ GALUBA, MSc
OLGA LEMPKE, MSc